Cornell University, Physics Department PHYS-217 Electricity & Magnetism

Fall 2004 Section 01

Solutions to Problem Set 12

David C. Tsang 10.2, 10.4, 10.5, 10.12, 10.13, 10.15, 10.16

Purcell 10.2
In 1746 a Professor Musschenbrokek in Leiden charged water in a bottle by touching a wire, projecting from the neck of the bottle, to his electrostatic machine. When his assistant, who was holding the bottle in one hand, tried to remove the wire with the other, he got a violent shock. Thus did the simple capcitor force itself on the attention of electrical scientists. The discovery of the Leydenjar revolutionized electrical experimentatoin. already in 1747 Benjamin Franklin was writing about his experiment with Mr. Musschenbroeks wonderful bottle. The jar was really nothing but glass with a aconductor on each side of it. To see why it caused such a sensation estimate teh capcitance of a jar made of a 1-liter bottle with walls 2 mm thick, the glass having a dieletric constant 4. What is the diameter sphere, in air would have the same capacitance? Assuming a cylindrical jar of height 2d and radius d/2. Such a jar would have a one liter capacity if (after some calculation) d = 8.6cm. This makes the area of the capacitor d2 = 522cm2 . This of course is only an estimate based on geometry. A = d 2d + d/4 = 9 4 hence 522 4 = 830cm (1) C= 4 0.2 This is the capcitance of a sphere of 830cm in radius.

Purcell 10.4
In the hydrogen chloride molecule the distance between the chlorine nucleus and the proton is 1.28 angstroms. Suppose the electron from the hydrogen atom is transferred entirely to the clorine atom, joining with the other electrons to form a spherically symmetric negative charge and centered on the chlorine nucleus. How does the electric dipole moment of this model compare with the actual HCl dipole momment given in Fig. 9.16? Where must the actual center of gravity of the negative charge distribution be locatred in the real molecule? (The chlorine nucleus has a charge of 17e, the hydrogen nucleus, a charge e. 1

Assuming two single e charges, we have p = 1.28 108cm 4.8 1010 esu = 6.15 1018 esu cm (2)

which is about 6 times the actual dipole moment of 1.03 1018 esu cm. How do we correct this? We consider the centers of the positive and negative charge distributions. The center of the positive charge distribution is 1 1.28 108 cm 18 (3)

from the Cl nucleus. We can pretend that all the positive charge (+18e) is located here. The negative charge center must be located such that 18ex = 1.03 1018 x= (4)

1.03 1018 (5) 18 4.7 1010 Thus the center of negative charge must lie 0.119 108 cm away from the center of positive charge, towards the hydrogen nucleus.

Purcell 10.5
A hydrogen chloride molecule is located at the origin with the H-Cl line along the z-axis and Cl uppermost. What is the direction of the electric eld, and its strength in statvolts/cm at a point 10 angstroms up from the origin, on the z-axis? At a point 10 angstroms out from the origin, on the y axis? Taking the simple dipole formulae we see: Ez (z = 107 cm) = and along the y-axis: Ez (y = 107 cm) = p = 1.03 103 statvolts/cm 3 y (7) 2p = 2.06 103 statvolts/cm 3 z (6)

with no components in the other directions

Purcell 10.12
Our forumal for the dielectric sphere can serve to describe a metal sphere in a uniform eld. To demonstrate this, investigate the limiting case, , and sow that the external eld then takes on a form which sastises the perfect-conductor 2

boundary conditions. What about the internal eld? Make a sketcah of some eld lines for this limiting case. How large is the dipole moment induced in a conducting sphere of radius a, in a eld Eo ? What is the readius of a conducting sphere with polarizability equal to that of a hydrogen atom, given in Table 10.2? The polarization of a dielectric sphere is given as: P = In the limit as , this becomes P = 3 1 Eo 4 + 2
3 E. 4 o

(8)

The eld strength inside the sphere (9)

E=

3 Eo 2+

goes to zero in the limit, hence we have an equipotential sphere, which is the correct limit for a conducting sphere. The polarizability of the sphere is dened by p = Eo . we have p = V ol P = 4 3 3 a Eo = a 3 Eo 3 4 (10)

hence the polarizability = a3 . Thus for polarizability of hydrogen H = 0.66 1024 cm3 we have a conducting sphere of equal polarizability with a radius 0.87 108 cm.

Purcell 10.13
By considering how th introductino of a dielectric changes the enrgy stored in a capcitor, show that the correct expression for the energy density in a dieletric must be E 2 /8 . Then compare the energy stored in the electric eld with that stored in the magnetic eld in the wave sutdied in Section 10.15. The capacitance is C= and the work done in charging the capcitor is 1 W = C2 2 with = Es and volume = As we have U= 1 A 2 2 1 E2 s E = 2 4s As 8 (13) (12) A 4s

(11)

In the electromagnetic wave in the dielectric, if the amplitude of the electric eld is Eo , that of the magnetic eld is Bo = Eo . Hence the nergy density in the magnetic eld, B 2 /8 , is equal to that in the electric eld, as in a wave in a vacuum. 3

Purcell 10.15
The electric dipole moment of water is given in Fig 10.14. Imagine that all the moelecular dipoles in a cup of water could be made to point down. Calculate the magnitidue of the resulting surface charge density at the upper water surface and express it in electrons per cm2 . The number of water molecules in 1cm3 is n = 6.02 102 3/18 polarization is thus P = np = 6.1 104 esu/cm2 but remembering that P = f ree , thus is = 6.1 104 esu/cm3 on the surface of the water. This is equivalent to 1.3 1014 electrons per cm2 . (15) 3.3 1022 cm3 . The (14)

Purcell 10.16
In Section 10.10 the fact that the electric eld is uniform inside the polarized sphere was deduced from the form of the potential at the bondary. You can also prove it by superposing the internal elds of two balls of charge whose centers are separated. (a) Show that inside a spherial uniform charge distribution E is proportional to r. (b) Now take two spherical distributions with density and , centers at C1 and C2 and show that the resultant eld is constant and paralle to the line from C1 and C2 . (c) Analyze in the same way the eld of a long circularly cylindrical rod which is polarized perpendicular to its axis.
(a) Gausss law E = 43 r . (b) Consider a point P located within the two spheres, which have centers C1 and C 2. At the point P we have 4 4 r1 E2 = ()r2 (16) E1 = 3 3 where r1 is the vector from C1 to P , and r2 is the vector from C2 to P . Taking the displacement between the two centers to be s = r1 r2 we have:

E=

4 s 3

(17)

for ANY point inside both spheres. The volume polarization is P = s since s runs from positive to negative, therefore we have E= 4 P 3 (18)

(c) for the cylindrical distribution gausss law tells us: E = 2r As in (b) we see: E1 = 2r1 E2 = 2 ()r2 (20) (21) E = 2s = 2 P (19)